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High Men Cavalry
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = First Strike }} High Men Cavalry are a type of Normal Unit that can be recruited in High Men Towns containing at least a Barracks and a Stables. Cavalry are the basic mounted units in the game. Their higher speed allows them to perform quick strikes against infantry lines, flank them, or bypass them to attack the rear of an enemy army. However, they are not very well armored, and need to keep the initiative if they want to survive in battle. High Men Cavalry have a Construction Cost of , and require an Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description High Men Cavalry are a group of men (humans), dressed in colored tunics and mounted on grey steeds. These horsemen fight with swords from horseback. Like most High Men, High Men Cavalry are quite mundane, possessing no great or fantastic qualities, but also no glaring disadvantages. High Men Cavalry are a , containing up to mounted soldiers. Attack Properties High Men Cavalry possess a Melee Strength of which has an average "raw" output of per Cavalryman. This is fairly decent against lighter armor, although it may not be enough to consistently hurt well-protected opponents. It does get better with however, both in strength and accuracy. At the level, the maximum normally attainable, each Cavalryman will inflict twice this much - points of "raw" , on average. Normally, Melee Damage between two combatants is resolved simultaneously, but like many other mounted units, High Men Cavalry have the First Strike trait, representing their ability to charge or trample their opponents before they could fight back. It triggers whenever the unit performs a voluntary Melee Attack during its own turn, and results in enemy slain by the attack not being able to retaliate against the High Men Cavalry. In other words, the more the Cavalrymen do with an attack they initiate, the less they will take from the Counter Attack. First Strike does not work when the Cavalrymen are on the receiving end of a Melee Attack however. There are also a handful of infantry units with reach weapons that possess a counter ability called Negate First Strike, which nullifies this effect entirely when engaging them. Defensive Properties High Men Cavalry are lightly armored, possessing a Defense score of . They can deflect about points from Conventional Damage attacks, on average. Unfortunately, this is rarely enough to avoid anything but the weakest attacks. On the other hand, they do have per rider, and if they can keep the initiative and attack only on their own terms, High Men Cavalry may be able to minimize the Melee Damage they take by virtue of their First Strike ability. Their base Resistance score is quite terrible though - with , they will easily fall prey to most Unit Curses and combat maledictions. However, all three of these statistics do improve with . Other Properties High Men Cavalry are faster than most infantry units with their Movement Allowance of , and may use this to their advantage to maximize the effectiveness of their First Strike. However, the unit otherwise has no special movement properties, and can only traverse land tiles on the overland map. Basic Strategy Although more expensive to train than the more common foot soldiers, High Men Cavalry also offer some advantages compared to them. Overland, they are the earliest-, and one of only two non-ship units available to this Race that can move more than one tile per turn without magical assistance. Coupled with their low Upkeep Cost, this makes them an excellent Normal Unit for both scouting and quick response. Since High Men can also recruit Engineers and start building Roads of their own early on, having access to a unit that can move 4 tiles per turn over them can make defending clusters of Towns easier and more efficient than keeping a full garrison in each one. In battle, their faster movement allows High Men Cavalry to not only utilize their First Strike more easily, but also to reach the enemy more quickly, and possibly get around their front lines to attack any weaker units in the rear instead. On the other hand, like all mounted units, High Men Cavalry don't have as many as infantry units do. Although more powerful, they execute a lower number of attacks with each command given to them, which makes enhancement effects and somewhat less effective, since they grant less of an overall benefit. Each that a High Men Cavalry unit loses also has a higher impact on their total output. However, while they don't wear better , Cavalrymen do have more than most foot soldiers, so they don't go down that easily. Regardless, pressing the attack is vital for their survival, since their First Strike will not trigger when they are being attacked by an enemy, which generally means that they will take much more in this case. This makes High Men Cavalry somewhat less useful in situations where they need to remain stationery, such as when defending a walled City or protecting a line of Ranged Attack units from close combat opponents. It also puts them at a disadvantage when facing enemies, as voluntary Melee Attacks against these are not possible for units without short-range attacks. During the later stages of the game, High Men Cavalry will typically be replaced by Paladins, the mounted heavy knights of High Men, who are superior in every respect, and overall one of the strongest Normal Units in the game. As a result however, they are not only much more expensive, but also require a significant investment into Town Buildings before becoming available. Ability Overview First Strike * Whenever this unit makes a voluntary Melee Attack against an enemy target, it delivers its Melee Damage before the target does, as opposed to resolving it at the same time. Therefore, defending slain by this do not get to retaliate at the unit. * This ability does not work when the unit is Counter Attacking against an enemy assailant. Experience Table The following table illustrates how High Men Cavalry improve with Experience. Any properties that are not listed here are not affected by in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both Warlord and must be in play simultaneously. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of "raw" that each in a High Men Cavalry unit will deliver based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to approximate the chance of hurting that target. Acquisition High Men Cavalry may be recruited in High Men Towns that have both a Barracks and a Stables already built, and have a Construction Cost of . They may also appear as Mercenaries, provided that the player has a presence on Arcanus. In this case, they cost between to to hire per unit, based on their - or half that much for Charismatic Wizards. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:High Men Category:Cavalry